Album Review

Lets Talk Daggers – Fantastic Contraption

• 20th Mar 2013

Let’s Talk Daggers are a youthful three piece from Eastbourne who’ve racked up a steady following and some strong support slots over the past couple of years. These boy’s may look like your little brother’s best mates, but don’t be fooled by their baby faces – Let’s Talk Daggers are ready and waiting to blow apart the UK hardcore scene. Their latest release on Tangled Talk Records, a mini-album called ‘Fantastic Contraption’ see’s the band assert their brand of rock chaos with the kind of youthful energy that shop keepers all over the country have a panic button for.

This mini album marches at 100 miles an hour. ‘The Bear of Bad News’ smashes it’s way through with a ripple of darkness as the band play with gothic keys and an overriding feeling of mayhem. ‘Round and About’, like some other tracks, has echoes of a ‘System of a Down’ influence, compelled by all the delicious angst you’d expect from three boys in their early 20’s. Tracks like ‘#1 Spicey Bugger’ and ‘Have a Gabble’ have an element of theatrics, and the amazing bass work throughout often leaves the listener feeling disoriented. A really strong aspect of this record is the watertight drumming by Stevie Berry, as well as how clearly in tune with each other these boys are. The call and response style in vocals on ‘No Business Being Alive’ adds fantastically to the feeling that the sound is running around and around the inside of your brain. Fan’s favorite ‘Have a Gabble’ has a fantastically epic quality to it, alternating pace at points to add to the feeling of being entirely off kilter listening to this record.

The boys play around with injections of various rock styles which makes this record more unusual that a lot of the ‘progressive’ music that’s being making a comeback recently. ‘Humannequin’, for example, Beggins with a clean riff, with an almost poppy feel moving into an undeniably thrash middle selection. At points we can also distinguish cow bells and trumpets. What’s brilliant about Let’s Talk Daggers ‘Fantastic Contraption’, is that you can tell that the boys are really having fun with the music they’re making. And frankly, any band that can include the lyrics “you’re a f***ing bellend” and pull it off deserve a real listen.

Venue: Fantastic Contraption
Support Band: Tangled Talk Records